AT&T, Verizon Strike Tower Agreement in Effort to Diversify Vendors

AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. have agreed to lease hundreds of new cell towers from Tillman Infrastructure, reports Reuters (Nov. 13), a move the two telecom giants hope will give them greater leverage in negotiations with major U.S. tower vendors. The U.S. cell tower market is presently dominated by three companies: American Tower Corp., SBA Communications Corp., and Crown Castle International. Monday's agreement shows that Verizon and AT&T, the No. 1 and No. 2 largest U.S. wireless carriers, are eager to ink deals with other vendors to secure better prices for the towers they use to transmit wireless signals. "Both carriers are seeking to add to their network capacity at a time when consumers are using increasing amounts of cellular data," concludes the wire service. Under terms of the agreement, Tillman will construct the towers starting early next year and AT&T and Verizon will be anchor tenants.